Seeking a solid mechanic in Melbourne

[Funkpirata]

Hi,

Around a year ago I drove down to Melbourne from Brisbane to live with a family member as personal life had hit the fan. I drove down in my dad's old econovan with all my stuff in the back. Not long after I got here someone stole my vehicle from North Melbourne. I was lucky enough to be driving with a friend through Flemington a few weeks later and saw the vehicle parked in a side street. It started and ran fine but the person has broken something in the gearbox and damaged the linkages so I can't even get it into neutral. I got it towed to my place where it has been sitting there for months now.

I've been trying to get the money together to repair it which is not easy on my current income. I'm now trying to find a good mechanic to do the repairs who is trustworthy and honest as I really need a break and can't afford to be screwed around as I have in the past. Unfortunately since it's not drivable I'll need to get it towed to the place to even find out what's broken and what it's going to cost to repair so I have been trying to suss out someone good in the area.

It's a pretty old vehicle and under normal circumstances would be a write off probably but I have personal reasons for valuing this van. I drove to Sydney with my old man at 6 years old in a bombed out old Datsun to buy it new, and we went on to have many camping holidays as kids in it, so it has personal value. If anyone can point me in the direction of someone trustworthy to do the repairs it would be an absolute life saver.

Cheers